Discussion:

This is ridiculous. I have been to many restaurants where one table was way over the top. We went to a restaurant years ago where one table was so loud that no one at my table could hear ourselves. They were white, we are white - race is irrelevant. You can be hooting and hollering in a way that is appropriate some places but not others. If 3 separate people complain, sorry, the subject of the complaints had better do some self-reflection. And this auto-racism shit is totally done. Just because someone complains about you and you are black, it may be the content of your character which is the problem, not the color of your skin. This happens in movie theatres all the time - one group or one individual does not know the difference between a movie at home and a movie in the theatre.

You probably have never been to a winery. So, I will pardon your ignorance. I go to them a lot, and no, just because you have a glass of wine, that does not excuse immature behavior. You should go to a winery, you will be amazed - people can enjoy wine without screaming at the top of their lungs. It’s amazing.

“overused”

When you grow up black in this country you get to say when race is “overused” until you do that you need to clamp your mandibles together. You know not of what you speak.

It’s booze tour, for heavens sake. Unless they were fighting or doing something that truly threatened the social order on the train, this sounds ridiculous.

And that happens, too. One just tries to shut it out.

Let me ask this question: How come I have no problem being quiet? Maybe I’m one of the X-Men and it’s an amazing super power not to be annoying.

“We thought the purpose of the Wine Train was to have a good time and enjoy being with a large group," Johnson told the newspaper.

The purpose certainly isn’t to drink the best Napa Valley wines and eat the best Napa Valley food. I’d boycott the Wine Train for what it did to these people, but I wouldn’t ride it in the first place.

Who is “we?” You sure as hell don’t speak for me.

I missed the part where these lovely ladies were being immature or screaming at the top of their lungs. Did you read that somewhere else or did you just pull that out of your ass?

I guess you didn’t read the part about being asked 3 times to quiet down. Hey, I remember 25 years ago, we were camping at Rocky Mountain. We were too loud, after 10 PM (quiet time). We were almost ejected by the rangers. It took my wife’s promising to shut us up to keep us there. We shut up and did not get ejected. Everyone can get out of control. Except only some people call it racism. It’s the content of the character, not the color of the skin, that matters. I’m surprised, in this day and age, that no video of the situation has surfaced. Certainly someone had to be videoing the situation.

Loud groups of people can be really annoying on things like the wine train where some people are trying to quietly enjoy the wine and scenery. Race has nothing to do with it. If a group of people wants to be loud: they should charter their own wine tour. It’s no difference than going to a nice restaurant for a quiet meal and having it ruined by someone’s screaming baby. Have some sensitivity to the other passengers.

They look like a fun group. Wish I was with 'em.

I guess you didn’t read this part:
"A Yelp review for the company that appeared to be written by a white passenger who rode the same train as Johnson’s book club painted a different picture of the incident.

“Definitely not an organization I would recommend or ever support again. I watched in disbelief as staff harassed a group of people who were merely drinking wine and laughing,” a woman named Danielle S. wrote. “I’d like to think it wasn’t a racially motivated act, but given the fact that other, non-black guests were behaving in the same way and not removed, I can only conclude that it was discrimination.”

You have no idea what racism looks like or feels like because you have never experienced it - you’ve only directed it.

I really think this is the hard part about the whole story: both scenarios seem entirely believable to me, and it’s impossible to know without having been there. I am no more inclined to believe the angry book club members than the ass-covering train company. It’s very very easy to imagine that 3-4 of the 12 book club members were behaving very obnoxiously and refused to consider toning it down when other passengers complained.